US7695101B2 - Image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Image recording apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
US7695101B2
US7695101B2 US11/071,742 US7174205A US7695101B2 US 7695101 B2 US7695101 B2 US 7695101B2 US 7174205 A US7174205 A US 7174205A US 7695101 B2 US7695101 B2 US 7695101B2
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Prior art keywords
paper feed
recording apparatus
image recording
carriage
scanning direction
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US11/071,742
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US20050195242A1 (en
Inventor
Kenji Samoto
Toshio Sugiura
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Brother Industries Ltd
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Brother Industries Ltd
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Assigned to BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA reassignment BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SAMOTO, KENJI, SUGIURA, TOSHIO
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an image recording apparatus of an ink-jet type or the like, and more particularly to a structure of a main frame to house a main part.
  • a conventional image recording apparatus of an ink-jet type, a thermal-head type or the like is such that as disclosed in JP-A-11-246055 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 5) or JP-A-2001-260475 (see FIGS. 1 to 4), cylindrical guide shafts to support a carriage carrying a recording head in such a manner that the carriage can reciprocate in a main scanning direction, a paper feed roller, a paper discharge roller, and the like are disposed in the inside of a box-type main frame made of a metal plate and fixed in a synthetic resin housing of the image recording apparatus. Both ends of these shafts are attached to right and left side plates of the main frame so as to be pivotally supported.
  • the structure is such that a paper feed cassette is housed at the lower side in the main frame to be capable of being pulled out and inserted, and after a sheet is transported to the lower surface of the recording head through the paper feed roller and a U-turn-shaped transporting passage and is recorded, the sheet is discharged to the front side of the housing.
  • JP-A-2002-254746 discloses that a pair of guide plates which support a carriage and can reciprocate it in a main scanning direction are integrally provided in a main frame.
  • the present invention provides an image recording apparatus in which a carriage (recording head) can be operated at high accuracy and which is compact.
  • an image recording apparatus including: a carriage that carries a recording head capable of recording an image on a recording medium and reciprocates in a main scanning direction; a substantially box-shaped main frame having an open upper side and a pair of side plates extending in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction; and first and second guide members over which the carriage extends and by which the carriage is guided, the first and second guide members being disposed to be apart from each other by a predetermined distance in the sub-scanning direction, extended in the main scanning direction at the upper side of the main frame and fixed to the pair of side plates.
  • the two lines of guide members are fitted to the pair of side plates of the main frame formed into the box shape having an open upper side, although the structure is very simple, the rigidity of the main frame becomes high, and the strong apparatus can be provided.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image recording apparatus of an embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the image recording apparatus of the embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus main body
  • FIG. 4 is a plan view of the recording apparatus main body in a state where an upper cover body is removed;
  • FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the recording apparatus main body in the state where the upper cover body is removed;
  • FIG. 6 is an enlarged side sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 4 ;
  • FIG. 7 is an enlarged side sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 4 ;
  • FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a main frame
  • FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a state in which two guide members are fitted to the main frame.
  • FIG. 10 is a side view taken along line X-X of FIG. 9 ;
  • FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a state in which a carriage is mounted
  • FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the carriage and a pair of guide members
  • FIG. 13 is a plan view of the carriage and the pair of guide members
  • FIG. 14 is a side view showing an attachment part of a maintenance unit
  • FIG. 15 is an enlarged side sectional view taken along line XV-XV of FIG. 13 ;
  • FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of an ink supply tube and a flexible flat cable with respect to the carriage;
  • FIG. 17 is a bottom view of a housing
  • FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a state in which a paper feed arm is exposed from a main frame
  • FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a paper feed cassette and a paper feed unit
  • FIG. 20 is a side view showing a state in which a paper feed roller gets over a bank part of the paper feed cassette
  • FIG. 21A is an explanatory view showing a state in which the paper feed roller is separate from the paper feed cassette
  • FIG. 21B is an explanatory view showing a state after the paper feed roller gets over the bank part of the paper feed cassette
  • FIG. 21C is an explanatory view showing a state where the paper feed roller is located at the lowest position
  • FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a paper discharge roller and a guidance body
  • FIG. 23 is a side sectional view take along line B-B in FIG. 13 ;
  • FIG. 24 is a side sectional view take along line C-C in FIG. 13 ;
  • FIGS. 25A to 25C are enlarged perspective views showing attachment of the guide member to a side plate.
  • An image recording apparatus 1 of this embodiment is a multi function device (MFD) having a printer function, a copy function, a scanner function and a facsimile function, to which the invention is applied.
  • MFD multi function device
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 at a bottom part of a housing 2 which is a recording apparatus main body of synthetic resin in the image recording apparatus 1 and is made of an injection molded part of synthetic resin, a paper feed cassette 3 is disposed which can be inserted through an opening part 2 a on the front side (left side in FIG. 2 ).
  • the paper feed cassette 3 is made to have such a form that plural sheets P, each of which is a recording medium and is cut into, for example, A4 size, letter size, legal size, postcard size or the like, can be stacked (deposited) and housed in such a manner that its short side extends in a direction (direction orthogonal to the surface of the sheet of FIG. 2 , main scanning direction, or Y-axis direction) orthogonal to a sheet transporting direction (sub-scanning direction, or X-axis direction).
  • An auxiliary support member 3 a to support the rear end part of the long sheet P of the legal size or the like is mounted at the front end of the paper feed cassette 3 such that it can be moved in the X-axis direction.
  • the auxiliary support member 3 a can be housed in a housing part 3 b such that it does not block the paper feed.
  • a bank part 8 for sheet separation is disposed at the depth side (right side in FIG. 2 ) of the paper feed cassette 3 .
  • a base end part of a paper feed arm 6 a of a paper feed unit 6 is mounted to a bottom plate 21 b of a box-shaped main frame 21 made of a metal plate and can swing in the vertical direction, and the sheet P as the recording medium stacked (deposited) on the paper feed cassette 3 is separated and transported one by one by a paper feed roller 6 b provided at the lower end of the paper feed arm 6 a and the bank part 8 .
  • the separated sheet P is fed to a recording part 7 provided at an upper side (high position) behind the paper feed cassette 3 through a U-turn path (feed path) 9 directed upward.
  • the recording part 7 includes a carriage 5 on which an ink-jet recording head 4 to realize the printer function and the like is mounted and which can reciprocate.
  • An image reading device 12 for reading a document in the copy function and the facsimile function is disposed at an upper part of the housing 2 .
  • a bottom wall 11 of the image reading device 12 is constructed to overlap from above an upper cover body 30 substantially without a gap.
  • the image reading device 12 is constructed to be capable of opening/closing/swinging vertically with respect to one side end of the housing 2 through a not-shown pivot part. Further, a rear end of a document cover body 13 covering an upper surface of the image reading device 12 is mounted so that it can vertically swing on a pivot shaft 12 a with respect to a rear end of the image reading device 12 .
  • An operation panel part 14 including various operation buttons, a liquid crystal display part and the like is provided at the upper side of the housing 2 and in front of the image reading device 12 .
  • the recording part 7 , the paper discharge part 10 and an ink storage part 15 provided at one side of this paper discharge part 10 are disposed to be positioned in a projection area of the image reading device 12 and the operation panel part 14 when viewed on a plane.
  • the auxiliary support member 3 a of the paper feed cassette 3 is housed in the housing part 3 b
  • the length of the paper feed cassette 3 in the X-axis direction is almost equal to the length of the image reading device 12 plus the length of the operation panel part 14 in the X-axis direction. Accordingly, since this image recording apparatus 1 becomes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped having a substantially square shape when viewed on a plane, packing becomes easy at a time of packing when it is shipped as a product, and a box for packing can be miniaturized.
  • CIS Contact Image Sensor
  • the ink storage part 15 is opened toward an upper part of the housing 2 , and the ink storage part 15 is constructed such that ink cartridges 19 (cartridges for individual colors, that is, black (BK), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) are denoted by 19 a to 19 d , see FIGS. 3 to 5 ) which respectively contain four color inks for full-color recording, have small areas when viewed on a plane, have high height sizes, and have substantially rectangular box shapes can be housed along the X-axis direction, and can be detachably attached from above.
  • ink cartridges 19 carrier for individual colors, that is, black (BK), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y)
  • 19 a to 19 d see FIGS. 3 to 5
  • the inks are supplied from the respective ink cartridges 19 (individually denoted by 19 a to 19 d ) to the ink-jet recording head 4 through plural (four in this embodiment) ink supply tubes (ink tubes) 20 (individually denoted by 20 a to 20 d , see FIG. 6 ).
  • ink supply tubes 20 individually denoted by 20 a to 20 d , see FIG. 6 .
  • the structure has only to be modified such that the ink cartridges the number of which corresponds to the number of the ink colors can be housed in the ink storage part 15 , and the ink supply tubes 20 are also increased according to the number of the ink cartridges.
  • an ink receiving part (not shown) is disposed at one end side (in the embodiment, part near a left side plate 21 a in FIGS. 3 and 13 ), and a maintenance unit 50 described later is disposed at the other end side (part near a right side plate 21 a in FIGS. 3 and 13 ).
  • the recording head 4 periodically performs an ink discharge for preventing clogging of a nozzle at a flashing position provided in the ink receiving part during a recording operation, and ink is received by the ink receiving part.
  • the carriage 5 In the portion of the maintenance unit 50 , the carriage 5 is located at a standby position, a cap part 50 a in the maintenance unit 50 covers the nozzle surface of the recording head 4 from below and ink is selectively sucked for each color, or a recovery processing to remove bubbles in a not-shown buffer tank above the recording head 4 is performed.
  • a not-shown cleaner wiper blade
  • the recording part 7 is supported by the box-type main frame 21 and the pair of right and left side plates 21 a thereof, and is positioned between a first and a second horizontally long plate-shaped guide members 22 and 23 extending in the Y-axis direction (main scanning direction).
  • the main frame 21 is such that after one metal plate (steel plate) is stamped into a specified shape, the pair of side plates 21 a and a pair of reinforcement plates 21 c are bent with respect to the bottom plate 21 b to form a box shape having an open upper side. Accordingly, the assembling work becomes very simple.
  • Plural positioning convex parts 21 f for horizontally supporting the lower surfaces of the horizontal plates of the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 and for regulating the height positions of the horizontal plates (besides height positions and levelness of first slide surfaces 51 and 52 described later), and T-shaped engagement pawls 61 are upward integrally formed at the upper end surfaces of the respective side plates 21 a (see FIGS. 8 , 25 A). Since slit-shaped locking holes 67 in which the engagement pawls 61 can be inserted are provided in the horizontal plates of the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 (see FIGS.
  • a pair of protrusions 21 g protruding at both sides of the engagement pawl 61 on the upper end surface of each of the side plates 21 a are fitted in positioning holes 21 h (see FIG. 25B ) adjacent to the locking hole 67 , so that the parallelism of the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 and the interval in a direction orthogonal to the parallel are regulated.
  • the carriage 5 on which the recording head 4 is mounted is slidably supported (mounted) to extend over the guide member 22 at the upstream side in the sheet transporting direction and the guide member 23 at the downstream side and can reciprocate.
  • the first slide surfaces 51 and 52 that function as horizontal guide parts parallel to the lower surface (head surface on which the nozzle is formed) of the recording head 4 in the carriage 5 are formed at the sides, close to the carriage 5 , of the upper surfaces of both the guide members 22 and 23 .
  • a second slide surface 54 directed toward the downstream side of the sheet transportation is formed (see FIGS. 9 , 11 and 12 ) on an almost perpendicular (vertical) guide piece 53 obtained by bending the upstream side, in the sheet transporting direction, of the downstream side guide member 23 .
  • the right ends of the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 protrude toward the right direction from the right side plate 21 a , and the maintenance unit 50 is mounted to extend over the protruding place and the right side plate 21 a .
  • tongue pieces 21 i and 21 j as attachment parts are made to protrude rightward at the right end parts of the horizontal plates of the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 , and these tongue pieces 21 i and 21 j are inserted in the horizontal direction into engagement holes 50 a and 50 b of the maintenance unit 50 and are fitted to perform positioning (see FIG. 14 ).
  • an opening part 70 capable of housing the paper feed arm 6 a and the paper feed roller 6 b of the paper feed unit 6 is formed in the bottom plate 21 b of the main frame 21 .
  • a pair of shaft support plates 71 are provided to stand at both right and left sides of the opening part 70 by cutting and raising upward, and shaft holes 71 a in which the base end part of the paper feed arm 6 a can be rotatably supported are provided in both the shaft support plates 71 (see FIGS. 8 and 9 ).
  • protrusions 72 are respectively provided in the upper ends of the pair of shaft support plates 71 and the one side plate 21 a (the right side plate 21 a in FIG. 8 ). By this, a gap between the upper surface of the platen 26 mounted to the main frame 21 and the lower surface of the recording head 4 (gap through which the sheet P can pass) can be accurately regulated.
  • the carriage 5 includes first slide convex parts 55 a and 55 b which protrude from the lower surface side and come in contact with the first slide surfaces 51 and 52 of both the guide members 22 and 23 , and plural coming-out preventing pawls 56 a and 56 b disposed to hold the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 in cooperation with the first slide convex parts 55 a and 55 b.
  • the one first slide convex part 55 a coming in contact with the first slide surface 51 of the first guide member 22 is disposed almost at the center of the carriage 5 in the horizontal direction (main scanning direction).
  • the two first slide convex parts 55 b coming in contact with the first slide surface 52 of the second guide member 23 and disposed at a suitable distance from each other in the horizontal direction (main scanning direction), and the two right and left coming-out preventing pawls 56 a and 56 b opposite to the lower surface of each of the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 are respectively provided at the sides close to both the right and left side pieces of the carriage 5 when viewed on a plane (see FIG. 13 ).
  • the three first slide convex parts 55 a , 55 b and 55 b are disposed at the respective apexes of a triangle (isosceles triangle is preferable) of the carriage 5 when viewed on a plane, so that the carriage 5 is stably supported relative to the first and the second guide members 22 and 23 .
  • plural recesses (not shown) long in the X-axis direction and for holding lubricating grease are formed in the main scanning direction (Y-axis direction) at suitable intervals.
  • the carriage 5 is provided with two second slide convex parts 59 and 60 coming in contact with the second slide surface 54 of the second guide member 23 .
  • the one second slide convex part 59 is formed integrally with the holder case of the carriage 5 , is disposed to hold the vertical guide piece 53 between a holding piece 62 and the second slide convex part 59 , and a portion between the holding piece 62 and the second slide convex part 59 is opened in the main scanning direction and downward (see FIGS. 13 and 15 ).
  • the other second slide convex part 60 and the holding piece 63 are provided through a posture adjusting unit 64 to adjust the mounting posture of the carriage 5 with respect to the vertical guide piece 53 of the second guide member 23 .
  • An adjustment block 65 is moved in the X-axis direction according to an adjustment knob 68 and a rotation position of a dial plate 69 , and the protrusion amount of the second slide convex part 60 with respect to the guide piece 53 can be adjusted.
  • the posture of the carriage 5 when viewed on a plane can be changed and adjusted around a place where the slide surface of the one first slide convex part 59 is in contact with the guide piece 53 .
  • An urging unit 66 to always press and urge the vertical guide piece 53 of the second guide member to the slide surfaces of the pair of second slide convex parts 59 and 60 is provided between the pair of second slide convex parts 59 and 69 in the Y-axis direction (see FIG. 13 ).
  • a timing belt 24 disposed to extend in the main scanning direction (Y-axis direction) is wound around pulleys 24 a and 24 b , and a CR (carriage) motor 25 (although a DC motor is used in the embodiment, another motor such as a stepping motor may be used) to drive the timing belt 24 is fixed to the lower surface of the second guide member 23 (see FIG. 12 ).
  • the second guide member 23 includes an encoder strip 47 which is disposed in the vicinity of the guide piece 53 so as to extend in the main scanning direction and is for detecting the position of the carriage 5 in the Y-axis direction (main scanning direction).
  • the belt-like encoder strip 47 is disposed so that a check surface (formation surface of slits disposed at regular intervals in the Y-axis direction) extends in the vertical direction.
  • shaft support parts (attachment parts) 21 m for both ends of a paper discharge roller 28 which is disposed at the downstream side of the platen 26 and is for transporting the recorded sheet P to the paper discharge part 10 are cut and formed in the pair of side plates 21 a of the main frame 21 (see FIGS. 8 to 11 ).
  • guidance bodies 73 each obtained by winding a thin line into a truncated conical shape such that a winding diameter gradually becomes small toward the center in the width of the sheet P are provided at both end parts of the paper discharge roller 28 ( FIGS. 7 and 18 show only one of them).
  • spur rollers 28 a coming in contact with the upper surface of the sheet P is disposed above the paper discharge roller 28 .
  • both side edges of the sheet P extending in the X-axis direction are curved upward by the pair of guidance bodies 73 . Accordingly, since the sheet P is discharged in a substantially U-shaped form, the sheet P does not droop down, and is straightly transported in the transporting direction (direction of the arrow A), and then, when coming off the paper discharge roller 28 , the sheet drops onto the paper discharge part 10 and is stacked.
  • an upper cover body 30 is disposed above this partition plate (lower cover body) 29 at a suitable distance therefrom and to cover an upper part of the carriage 5 and its reciprocal movement passage.
  • a rectangular window hole 31 through which the reciprocal movement passage of the carriage 5 can be seen from above is provided at the middle part of the upper cover body 30 (see FIG. 3 ).
  • the spur rollers 28 a and the paper discharging roller 28 for discharging the recording sheet on which the image is formed on the downstream side of the recording part 7 in the direction of transportation of the recording sheet
  • the spur rollers 28 a and the discharging roller 28 constitute a pair of discharging rollers.
  • the paper discharging roller 28 is rotated by a rotating force of, for example, a stepping motor, and the recording sheet is discharged in a direction orthogonal to the width of the recording sheet (in the sub-scanning direction) by the rotation of the paper discharging roller 28 .
  • Each of the spur rollers 28 a has a plurality of teeth therearound, and is formed into a teethed roller in which the tips of the respective teeth are pointed into an acute angle so as to come into point contact with a recording surface of the recording sheet.
  • the spur rollers 28 a are urged toward the paper discharging roller 28 , and comes into contact with the recording sheet when the recording sheet is discharged by the rotation of the paper discharging roller 28 , and rotates in association with discharge of the recording sheet. Therefore, the paper discharging roller 28 serves as a driving roller.
  • Auxiliary spur rollers 28 c are disposed on an upstream side of the spur rollers 28 a .
  • the auxiliary spur rollers 28 c and the spur rollers 28 a are held by holders 28 b , respectively.
  • These spur rollers 28 a and the auxiliary spur rollers 28 c are, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24 , provided on the second guide member 23 .
  • spur roller mounting holes 28 a 1 and auxiliary spur roller mounting holes 28 c 1 are formed in the second guide member 23 .
  • the spur roller mounting holes 28 a 1 and auxiliary spur roller mounting holes 28 c 1 do not overlap in the sheet transporting direction. In other words, the spur roller mounting holes 28 a 1 and auxiliary spur roller mounting holes 28 c 1 are formed at different positions in the main scanning direction.
  • spur rollers are mounted to the guide member through spur roller holders and a side frame.
  • the spur rollers 28 a and the auxiliary spur rollers 28 c are mounted to the second guide member only via the holders 28 b , the structure is simplified and the mounting accuracy of those rollers is enhanced. Also, the auxiliary spur rollers 28 c press the sheet at the upstream side. These improve the printing quality.
  • the paper feed roller 6 b is rotated by the rotation driving of the drive shaft 74 in a given direction through a gear transmission mechanism 6 c provided in the paper feed arm 6 a . Besides, the paper feed roller 6 b side is always urged downward relatively to the bottom plate 21 b by a not-shown urging unit (for example, a torsion spring).
  • a not-shown urging unit for example, a torsion spring
  • a substantially flat-plate shaped cam follower member 75 parallel to the drive shaft 74 and integrally protruding from the paper feed arm 6 a made of synthetic resin is disposed at the lower surface side of the bottom plate 21 b , and extends to above an after-mentioned cam part 77 of the paper feed cassette 3 .
  • Bearing parts 76 integrally protruding from the cam follower member 75 are inserted through insertion holes 21 n (see FIGS. 8 , 17 and 18 ) provided in the bottom plate 21 b to the upper surface of the bottom plate 21 b and are fitted onto the drive shaft 74 relatively rotatably.
  • Cam parts 77 which come in slide contact with the cam follower 75 according to the advancing and retracting movement (movement in the X-axis direction) of the paper feed cassette 3 and are for integrally raising and lowering not only the paper feed arm 6 a but also the paper feed roller 6 b , are integrally formed on the upper end surfaces of both the right and left side plate parts 3 d as both the end parts, in the Y-axis direction, of the synthesis resin paper feed cassette 3 at both sides of the housing part 3 b of the sheet P (see FIGS. 19 , 20 and 21 ).
  • the paper feed cassette 3 is inserted through the opening part 2 a of the front of the housing 2 , and when the lower surface of the cam follower member 75 comes in contact with the start end side (side close to the bank part 8 ) of the cam part 77 , in accordance with the advancing movement of the paper feed cassette 3 , the cam follower member 75 is pressed up (see FIG. 20 ). Together with this, not only the paper feed arm 6 a but also the paper feed roller 6 b is swung upward, and the paper feed roller 6 b and the paper feed arm 6 a go over the bank part 8 .
  • the paper feed unit 6 is provided with the cam follower member 75 positioned below the bottom plate 21 b of the main frame 21 , and the paper feed cassette 3 is provided with the cam part 77 which, together with the cam follower member 75 , raises, lowers and swings the paper feed unit 6 at least temporarily according to the advancing and retreating movement of the paper feed cassette 3 in the housing 2 (main body case).
  • the paper feed unit 6 can be raised and lowered according to the loading and unloading operation of the paper feed cassette 3 , and the operation becomes simple.
  • the opening part 70 is provided in order to house the paper feed arm 6 a and the paper feed roller 6 b above the bottom plate 21 b at the time when they are raised.
  • a housing part recessed upward and opened downward may be bulged and formed in the bottom plate 21 b by the press or the like.
  • a downward open recess in which the cam follower member 75 can be fitted may be formed.
  • the respective ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are tube bodies independent of each other, and the lengths of all the ink supply tubes 20 b to 20 d are made equal to each other and are used.
  • root parts of the plural (four in the embodiment) ink supply tubes 20 are bundled at a portion of one end part 15 a of the ink storage part 15 , and are extended on the upper surface of the lower cover body 29 from one side end part thereof (right end part in FIG. 4 ) to the other end part (left end part in FIG. 4 ) in the Y-axis direction.
  • the root parts of all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are arranged in a single row along the upper surface of the substantially horizontal lower cover body 29 .
  • At least a part (middle part or the like) of the ink supply tube 20 is supported on the upper surface of the lower cover body 29 .
  • all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are twisted so that the middle parts thereof extend along one longitudinal surface (almost vertical surface) of an oblong longitudinal partition plate 32 of the lower cover body 29 , and the middle parts of all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are arranged in a single file and are fixed (held or pinched) between the one longitudinal surface and a longitudinal plate-shaped fixing body 33 made of synthetic resin and fixed by screws or the like to face the one longitudinal surface of the longitudinal partition plate 32 .
  • the portion where all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are fixed (held) by the fixing body 33 and the one longitudinal surface of the longitudinal partition plate 32 becomes an intermediate fixing part.
  • the carriage 5 is provided with a coupling piece 34 substantially horizontally extending in the sheet transportation downstream direction (direction of the arrow A), and the tip parts of all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are connected, in the arrangement of a substantially horizontal single row, to a coupling part (connection part) 35 of the coupling piece 34 provided at the left end in FIG. 4 .
  • the directions of the middle parts of all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are changed from left to right in a portion between the place of the intermediate fixing part (fixing body 33 ) and the coupling part (connection part) 35 , and the ink supply tubes are twisted and routed so that the phases of the lines (arrangement) of all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are changed from the substantially vertical direction at the intermediate fixing part (fixing body 33 ) side to the substantially horizontal direction at the coupling part (connection part) 35 side.
  • the respective ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d are bent independently of one another, all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 d can be easily arranged. It is of course that all the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 e are independently separate from one another between the place of the intermediate fixing part (fixing body 33 ) and the coupling part (connection part) 35 .
  • a flexible flat cable 40 for transmitting, from a not-shown control part provided at the housing 2 side, instruction signals to discharge ink droplets selectively from nozzles of the recording head 4 mounted on the carriage 5 is disposed, substantially in parallel to the direction of extension of the ink supply tube 20 , in an area (movable area, untied or unrestrained area) through which the ink supply tubes 20 a to 20 e pass in the case of reciprocal movement of the carriage 5 in the Y-axis direction (main scanning direction) 5 (see FIGS. 4 and 5 ).
  • the convex curved direction of the curved middle part of the ink supply tube 20 and that of the curved middle part of the flexible flat cable 40 are set to be opposite to each other with respect to the reciprocal movement direction of the carriage 5 .
  • the ink supply tube 20 and the flexible flat cable 40 can be arranged almost at the same height (almost on the same horizontal surface) in the vertical direction, and as a result, the whole image recording apparatus 1 can be made thin.
  • engagement pawls 61 are integrally formed to protrude upward on upper end surfaces of the pair of side plates, and the engagement pawls are fitted in locking holes respectively provided in the first guide member and the second guide member and are bent or twisted and crimped.
  • positioning convex parts 21 f to regulate horizontal setting height positions of the first guide member and the second guide member are formed on the upper end surfaces of the pair of side plates.
  • a horizontal and a height position of the carriage are regulated by horizontal guide parts 51 , 52 of the first guide member and the second guide member, and a position of the carriage in the sub-scanning direction is regulated by a guide piece of the second guide member in a vertical direction.
  • the horizontal and the height position of the carriage 5 are regulated by the horizontal guide parts 51 , 52 of the first guide member and the second guide member, and the position of the carriage in the sub-scanning direction is regulated by the guide piece of the second guide member in the vertical direction.
  • the quality of a recorded image onto the recording medium by the recording head mounted on the carriage can be raised by the simple structure.
  • the main frame 21 is housed and fixed in a main body case of the image recording apparatus 1 , a paper feed cassette 3 in which the recording medium is stacked and housed is disposed below a bottom plate coupling the pair of side plates of the main frame and is capable of being pulled out and inserted, and a paper feed unit to feed the recording medium deposited in the paper feed cassette is mounted to the bottom plate to be capable of vertically swinging.
  • the main frame is housed and fixed, and the vertically swinging paper feed unit is mounted to the bottom plate to couple the pair of side plates of the main frame, the attachment strength of the paper feed unit can be improved.
  • the bottom plate 21 b includes an opening part or a housing recess to enable the paper feed unit swung upward to be housed on an upper surface side of the bottom plate.
  • the paper feed unit upward swung can be housed on the upper surface side of the bottom plate in the opening part or the housing recess formed in the bottom plate, the height of the vertical space from the paper feed cassette to the bottom plate can be made small, and the image recording apparatus 1 having a small height size and being compact can be provided.
  • the bottom plate 21 b includes a shaft support plate 71 to pivotally support a base end part of a paper feed arm of the paper feed unit.
  • a drive shaft to drive a paper feed roller 6 b of the paper feed unit is pivotally supported by the shaft support plate concentrically with the base end part of the paper feed arm 6 a.
  • the paper feed unit includes a cam follower member positioned below the bottom plate, and the paper feed cassette includes a cam part which, together with the cam follower member, raises/lowers/swings the paper feed unit at least temporarily according to advancing/retracting movement of the paper feed cassette in the main body case.
  • the paper feed unit 6 can be raised and lowered according to the loading and unloading operation of the paper feed cassette 3 , and the operation becomes simple.
  • the cam follower member 75 is substantially in contact with or close to a lower surface of the bottom plate.
  • the cam follower member 75 is also put in the state where it is in contact with or close to the lower surface of the bottom plate, and accordingly, the vertical swing operation of the paper feed unit 6 can be ensured without enlarging the height of the vertical space between the bottom of the main frame and the paper feed cassette.
  • the height from the paper feed cassette to the bottom plate of the main frame can be made low, and there is obtained an effect that the height size of the whole image recording apparatus 1 is made small and a compact one can be provided.
  • the side plates of the main frame 21 and the shaft support plate include projections 72 to regulate a setting height position of a flat platen which faces a lower surface of the carriage and supports the recording medium.
  • the size of the gap between the lower surface of the recording head mounted on the carriage and the platen can be easily regulated, and the assembling work can be simplified.
  • an attachment part by which a maintenance unit to maintain the carriage is mounted to extend over both the guide members is provided.
  • the maintenance unit 50 can be attached to the high rigidity place obtained by the assembly of these plural members, the attachment strength of the attachment part of the maintenance unit can be strengthened without using an added member.
  • the main frame 21 is formed by stamping one flat plate and bending it.
  • the main frame 21 is formed by stamping one flat plate and bending it, the forming work becomes simple, and the manufacture cost can be reduced.
  • attachment parts for a transportation roller to transport the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction and a paper discharge roller are cut and formed in the pair of side plates of the main frame 21 .
  • the paper discharge roller 28 includes a pair of right and left guidance bodies to guide both side edges of the recording medium extending in the sub-scanning direction and to prevent the recording medium from drooping when it is transported.
  • both the side edges of the discharged recording medium extending in the sub-scanning direction are curved upward by the pair of guidance bodies. Accordingly, since this recording medium is discharged in a substantially U-shaped form, the sheet P does not droop down and is stacked such that after the sheet is straightly transported in the transporting direction, it falls onto the paper discharge part when coming off the paper discharge roller.
  • ink is supplied from an ink storage part provided at a stationary position of a main body of the image recording apparatus 1 through a flexible ink supply tube connected to the carriage.
  • the image recording apparatus 1 can be made short in height and compact.

Landscapes

  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Character Spaces And Line Spaces In Printers (AREA)
  • Holo Graphy (AREA)
  • Dot-Matrix Printers And Others (AREA)
US11/071,742 2004-03-08 2005-03-04 Image recording apparatus Active 2027-06-14 US7695101B2 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2004-063921 2004-03-08
JP2004063921A JP4407803B2 (ja) 2004-03-08 2004-03-08 画像記録装置

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US20050195242A1 US20050195242A1 (en) 2005-09-08
US7695101B2 true US7695101B2 (en) 2010-04-13

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US (1) US7695101B2 (fr)
EP (1) EP1574349B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP4407803B2 (fr)
CN (2) CN100361821C (fr)
AT (1) ATE425011T1 (fr)
DE (1) DE602005013136D1 (fr)

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US8936348B1 (en) * 2013-07-08 2015-01-20 Seiko Epson Corporation Recording apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN1666880A (zh) 2005-09-14
EP1574349B1 (fr) 2009-03-11
US20050195242A1 (en) 2005-09-08
EP1574349A1 (fr) 2005-09-14
CN100361821C (zh) 2008-01-16
CN2910581Y (zh) 2007-06-13
JP2005246907A (ja) 2005-09-15
JP4407803B2 (ja) 2010-02-03
ATE425011T1 (de) 2009-03-15
DE602005013136D1 (de) 2009-04-23

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